It's All Worth Fighting For
by waddlesthepenguin123
Summary: How far would you go to save your loved ones? Humanized. Kowalski's invention malfunctions and turns them into humans. Getting used to being a human is hard enough without an arch villian after Private, battling sudden human enemies and even falling in love. Whoever said like was simple? Contains Skilene and skipper/private father/son (i dont know what to call this xD)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** This is what happens when you have a free period and no homework yet xD. A little while ago my sister wanted me to write a skilene one shot (i might post it here later, i dunno) and that seemed to actually make me get into this pairing. A little while after that i got the idea for this story and have just been waiting for a chance to start it, and this is my first try at skilene (other than the one shot) so you'll have to excuse me if this story sucks, and yes, its a little boring at first, sorry, i just wanted to establish characters and stuff.

* * *

The jolt still echoed through this body, thundering through with no right to be there. It was his thoughts that came back to him first. _Kowalski; one of his stupid inventions malfunctioned again and caused this...but...what is this? I don't know, but something sure doesn't feel right, not right at all._

The sunlight filtered through the window, causing him to stir and slowly open his eyes. First the right, then the left. He let out a yawn and followed it by a stretch, but got a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something didn't feel right, like his limbs were foreign to him. He stared up at the white ceiling, the all too familiar feeling of worry settling in his gut. _Wait, a white ceiling? This isn't HQ!_ He tried to sit up quickly, his worry turning into panic, but he found he couldn't; it felt like his brain and body went connecting properly and it took an immense amount of time for his muscles to obey his brain. Finally, he was in a sitting position and looked around. He was in a room, a neatly decorated human's room. _A human's house? Why would I be in a human's house? What am I doing laying here? We should be in stealth mode! The humans might see us! Kowalski!_ He wanted an explanation from his lieutenant and he wanted it right now.

He surveyed the room again, this time focusing more on his surroundings than his panic. He spotted four humans lying on the floor, looking as if they were sleeping. Skipper scrambled back frantically, hitting his head as he hid under the table. _Where's my team? Did I go on a solo mission and...get captured? No, I'm better than that! Besides, I don't feel captured; the humans wouldn't so carelessly leave me unattended._

It was then he noticed it; the foot. He let out a screech, which sounded frankly quite girly and scrambled back even farther, but the foot followed him. He began shaking slightly, his eyes wide with terror. He reached down with a shaky breath to touch it, having a suspicious hunch that made him want to puke. Brain receptors in his brain went off, alerting him that the foot was indeed attached to him. He involuntary gasped from the shock. _A human foot...attached to me...Smoked salmon! How could this happen?_ He gulped and tried to keep back the bile that was rising in his throat as he looked past the feet to a pair of legs, connected to a midsection. He couldn't go any further. _Fish and chips man!_ He felt his face with his flippers-no-hands. _Hands! Human hands!_ He panicked and smashed his head off the bottom of the table. "Ouch!" He howled, trying to think of a rational explanation for the phenomenon he was experiencing. _This cant be me! I must be dreaming! Yes, this must be some kind of horrible nightmare!_ He pinched his arm and stifled a sob. _Wake up! Wake up! Come on, you have to wake up!_ He slapped himself until his hand began to sting. _My hand_. He tried to let the realization settle in, but a tiny piece of his brain just wouldn't let him believe it._ Unless..._ he crawled out from under the table and spotted a makeup mirror on the counter. He picked it up and gasped. Staring back at him was...himself. Except it wasn't really him, it was a human reflection, a human with an oddly flat head and intense blue eyes along with black hair. He fought back the tears and studied the reflection again. It did look like himself, in an odd sort of human way. He dropped the mirror with a clatter and pounded the countertop with his fists angrily. "This can't be right! I can't be a stupid human, I just can't! There's got to be some way to make this right...Kowalski!" It was then he remembered the other humans lying on the floor. He hesitantly crawled over, not trusting his newfound human legs to get him there safely and knelt in front of the first body.

A child. 8 or 9 years of age maybe. He had dirty blonde hair that was a matt of curls and a splattering of freckles across the bridge of his nose and cheeks. _Private... I would recognize his childlike innocence anywhere, except...now he really is a child..._ "Private." He said the name aloud but nothing happened.

He sighed and moved on to the next figure. _Rico._ He smiled down at the weapons expert. He knew it was Rico from the moment he saw the mohawk, it practically screamed out his identity.

Next to Rico lay a tall slender human with messy brown hair. _Kowalski._ A pair of glasses carelessly lay beside him. _My team._ Skipper felt an immense relief at seeing them, knowing he wasn't alone. _But that makes four of us...who's the extra?_

He made his way over to the last shape feeling confused. He took a deep breath when he saw her. _Her; a girl. No...wait...Marlene? It is Marlene...wow...she's beautiful._ Even in her current state, her face squished against the hardwood floor and her hair fluffed up all around her she looked stunning. A head of long chestnut hair that hung nearly to her waist- _Stop it!_ He smacked the side of his head. _It's Marlene for crying out loud, she's a mammal...we're all mammals now...ohgod. Why am I even thinking about her like that? Get a grip man! Your teams in trouble and you're daydreaming about a girl!_ He slowly backed away from the figures sprawled on the floor and took a seat at the table, his head spinning. _Are we going to be okay? We have to be! I won't let it be any other way!_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** kind of a boring, long chapter, but i promsie it'll get interesting later on, and i probably should have said this before, but i exagerated the age difference between private and the rest of them, i thought it would work better for the story, anyway, thanks for reading so far.

* * *

It was Private who stirred first. The noise caused Skipper to lift his head from his hands and sit beside the child. When Private opened his eyes, he scooted back fearfully. "Who...who are you? Get away from me!"

Skipper placed a hand on his shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. "Private, its all right."

"How...how do you know my name?" Private asked as he trembled. "Wait...your a human, how can you talk to penguins?"

"Private, it's me."

"S...Skippah?" Private stammered. "But...it can't be! Just let me go! I want to go home!" Private struggled but Skipper helped him down. He searched the floor for the mirror he had dropped and held it on front of the child's face. Private gasped in shock and shakily looked at Skipper. "...Is that me?"

Skipper shook his head yes.

"I...what happened?"

"I don't know Private, but believe me, I'm going to find out and set it straight."

"Skippah?" Private looked up at him intently, searching for the familiar leader in the human's body. "Oh Skippah, this is absolutely horrid!" He clumsily hugged the older.

"Shhhhh." Skipper tried his best to be comforting.

"Sorry Skippah." Private pulled away and clumsily wiped his eyes, accidentally hitting himself in the head. "Everything feels funny, I can't move right."

"I know, I was the same way, you'll get used to it." Skipper said confidently.

"Skippah?" Private sniffled. "This is scary."

"I know, but it'll al be over soon, don't worry, once Kowalski wakes up he can figure this out and fix it."

Rico let out a mumble and both Skipper and Private looked over hopefully.

"You okay?" Skipper asked as he stood up.

Private smiled. "I'm okay now, knowing you guys are here too, thanks Skippah."

Skipper smiled and bent over Rico.

"kipper?"

"Yup." He replied.

Rico looked at him in shock. "Human."

Skipper nodded.

"me ou?"

Skipper nodded again.

"Walksi's fault?"

Skipper laughed. "Probably, but I don't want to point flippers-er-fingers."

Rico stood up unsteadily and glared at the unconscious scientist. Private had taken a seat at the table and Skipper and Rico joined him.

"Where are we?" Private asked curiously.

Skipper shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, I suppose...its home for now."

"Can we explore?" Private asked eagerly.

"Um...sure, I guess." Skipper replied as Private bounded up a flight of stairs. "Just be careful."

Skipper sighed and looked over at Rico, who was staring off into space with a vacant expression. "Hey, you okay?"

Rico seemed to snap out of it. "Yeah, I okay."

They heard a shriek and both looked to the floor. Marlene's eyes were wide with fear. Skipper knelt down next to her, his hands fluttering around nervously, unsure of what to do. Finally, he opened his mouth to speak. "Hey, its all right, I know you're probably scared, but you're not alone." He instinctively grabbed her shaky hands to steady them. He felt a warmth run through his body at the contact and felt a small smile tug at the corners of his lips. _I know I shouldn't be enjoying this, but..._ He let out a quiet sigh of content but quickly dropped her hands as she sat up.

Marlene's mouth opened and closed a few times until she could force out the words. "...Skipper? Sorry, you look so much like somebody I know, but he's a penguin, not a human-"

Marlene, I know its going to seem unbelievable, but it's me, Skipper."

"Skipper? But...How? You're not a penguin-'

"And you're not an otter." Skipper interrupted.

Marlene's mouth literally fell open, and looked so comical it caused a chuckle to rise in Skippers chest. "But how? I mean...what in the world happened?"

"I don't know but as soon as Kowalski wakes up-"

The tallest of them opened his eyes at hearing his name. "Yes?"

"Kowalski!" Skipper shrieked in anger. "I'm going to kill you with my bare flippers-er- hands! Your invention screwed up and look what happened! You have to fix it! Fix it right now or God help me I'll-"

Kowalski looked around at their surroundings curiously. "I guess my latest invention did have a few quirks, it seems-"

"A few quirks? Kowalski, look at me, look at us! We're...we're humans! Humans Kowalski!" He trust his arm in the others face. "Look!" He screeched. "An arm! A human arm! It shouldn't be there, it should be a flipper!" Rico tried to pull away the hysterical Skipper but was distracted as Private came bounding down the stairs.

"This house is huge! You should see it! There's 5 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and-" He stopped when he saw everybody had been awoken. "k'walski's awake; does that mean we can go home now? Because even if this house is cool I'd rather go home."

"What happened?" Marlene asked. "I mean, why me too?"

"Well I presume it was my latest invention that malfunctioned, causing us to become...human. It would only affect anybody currently in HQ at the time it happened, which you were"

"Can you fix it?" Skipper asked desperately, trying to keep his anger under control for Private's sake. Now that they were human, the age difference was clearly defined. Private was a mere child while the rest of the team and Marlene were adults.

"I...I'm not sure." Kowalski stammered. "I assume we can't retrieve me invention from HQ?"

Skipper shook his head. "We wouldn't even fit down there like this."

"Well I guess I'll have to try and build it again and reverse-"

"Kowalski." Skipper held up his hand. "No science jibber jabber, how long will it take?"

Kowalski looked at the floor nervously, wishing there was some way to postpone Skippers inevitable anger. "Well I was working on it for the better part of a year..."

"A year?" Skipper exploded.

"I suggest...we make the best of our situation, go out, learn to live like this, so it wont be so hard to adapt for any length of time."

The others in the room looked at him in shock. "ou mean we stuck like this for long time?" Rico asked.

Kowalski shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry."

Skipper took a seat at the table, feeling completely disconnected with reality. "What are we going to do?" He moaned.

Private peered up at him front behind his hair as he took a seat bedside the leader. "We're going to be all right, aren't we Skippah?"

Skipper smiled weakly, putting on a happy façade for the younger. "Of course we'll be fine; we'll make the most of this situation and the next thing you know we'll be back home again."

A silence fell over the room as each person tried to come to terms with what was happening. Skipper's eyes automatically kept darting back to Marlene, no matter how hard he tried to resist.

"I'm going to find a room to use as my lab." Kowalski said quietly and with that, he was gone.

"Well, I guess I'll go look around too." Marlene said timidly.

"We'll go look around." Skipper clarified. Marlene looked at him oddly as they left the room. The first room they entered was the living room. There was a huge flat screen TV mounted on the wall, which they all admired longingly.

"Look at the TV Skippah! It's a monster compared to our old one back in HQ, isn't it?"

_Our old one? Our old one! No! HQ is still our home, this is just temporary!_ "Private." He wanted to tell him his thoughts, be honest with him, but he just couldn't. "It is sure is." He grinned. "I wouldn't mind watching shirtless ninja action theatre on that big screen."

"Or the Lunacorn's" Private added hopefully.

"Really?" Skipper sighed. "Maybe you should give up the Lunacorns, your getting a bit old for them."

Private glared at him. "Skippah, the whole worlds gone topsy turvey, the Lunacorn's are the only thing left that's like normal, let me have that please."

"Sorry." Skipper mumbled, feeling like a jerk

Next, they decided to go upstairs. On the first floor there were two bedrooms, a bathroom and a storage area. They met Kowalski in the first of the bedrooms. "I hope nobody minds if I use this as my bedroom."

"Nah, its fine." Skipper reassured him, trying to sound cheerful to make up for his earlier anger.

"Is it okay if I use part of the basement as my lab too?"

"Sure, go ahead." Skipper said graciously. "I'm sorry about earlier-"

"Is all right." Kowalski quietly. "I accept full responsibility sir, and I just want you to know I'm not exactly fond of our predicament either, but I'm going to work on it." He let out a yawn. "Well, I guess I'll head to bed."

"Oh yeah...goodnight." Skipper said, noticing Rico had already claimed the room next to the scientists and was fast asleep. Skipper trudged up the next flight of stairs and found Marlene and Private waiting for him.

"Come on Skippah, you have to see my room!" Private said excitedly. Skipper smiled as Private dragged him down the hallway into the first doorway. "Look." He said proudly. To Skipper, it looked like a perfectly normal bedroom, but apparently something had caught Private's eye to make it special. "Look, it has a slanted roof." Skipper chuckled at the younger's excitement. "Doesn't it look so cool? It makes this room special, and look, a balcony!"

Marlene appeared by the door and smiled. "It sure doesn't take much to make you happy, does it?"

Skipper wanted to tell him that the rest of the rooms on this floor had slanted roofs too, and probably balconies also, but he kept his mouth shut.

"Can I pant my room Skippah? Pretty please? Will you guys help me?

Skipper sighed as Marlene answered. "Of course I'll help you; I'm sure Skipper will too. We'll go shopping for paint tomorrow, okay?"

Skipper felt a mild annoyance at getting into something he hadn't volunteered for but pushed it away at how happy Private looked.

"Yayyy! Thank you!" Private cried as he gave them both a hug.

"You should get to bed, you're probably pretty tired." Skipper advised.

Private clamoured into bed and pulled the covers up over his head. "G'night Skippah, g'night Marlene."

Skipper smiled and closed the door.

"So...which one do you want?" Marlene asked awkwardly.

"Doesn't matter, you pick."

Marlene sighed. "Your so stubborn, fine, I'll take this one, goodnight Skipper." she disappeared into the second open door, leaving Skipper standing in the hallway alone. He headed for the last door and tiredly plopped down on his bed. "Boy, this sure is more comfy than those hard bunks, aren't they boys?" When he got no response, he felt stupid for forgetting he was alone. It was odd, he was used to the sounds of HQ, here, it felt too quiet. He felt out of place and most of all, alone. He turned over while letting out a dejected sigh, burying his head in his pillow until he eventually fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Im super duper sorry for the delay in updating, i got swamped with school work and then i got sick :/ not to mention this chapter is like insanely long so it took me a while to type up and edit, anyway, its posted now, and again, I'm sorry.

* * *

"Skippah." Private shook the older awake gently. "Skippah." He shook him harder.

Skipper blinked his eyes open. "What is it Private?"

"I'm hungry Skippah."

Skipper sighed and rolled back over. "Can't you make yourself something?"

"I tried Skippah...but..."

"What about Rico, Kowalski or Marlene? One of them must be up."

"Rico left an hour ago; k'walski is in his lab and told me not to disturb him and Marlene's in the bathroom."

Skipper rolled out of bed unhappily and stumbled down the stairs. He came to a halt at the kitchen entrance. "What happened?"

Private meekly stood beside him. "Well I said I tried to make something to eat."

Skipper looked in astonishment at the mess. It looked like a hurricane had barrelled through. A tipped blender lay on the counter, a gooey pink substance dripping to the floor and sprayed all over the walls. There was a frozen waffle stuck to the ceiling and a track of sticky maple syrup across the floor, tiny little maple syrup footprints sporadically spread across the tile. Their fridge was also a mess, the containers toppled and their contents lying in a mess. Skipper shook his head and looked at the younger in disappointment.

"I'm sorry about the mess Skippah, but I didn't't want to wake you up-"

"Next time you get hungry; just wake me up, okay?"

"Okay." Private grinned. "I guess I'm never going to be a chef."

Skipper snorted in response. "So I guess you're still hungry?"

"Yup."

"Toast okay? I can't cook either"

"Sure Skippah."

Skipper tiptoed around the mess best he could and placed two slices of bread in the toaster. He bent and began cleaning up the mess while Private took a seat at the table. Soon after, two pieces of burnt toast popped up, setting the smoke detector off. Private covered his ears while Skipper fumbled with the batteries in the smoke detector. Finally, all was quiet. That was, of course, the moment Marlene showed up.

"What on earth happened?" She directed the question to Skipper.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I didn't do all this; I just burnt the toast, which by the way wasn't my fault."

Marlene laughed. "Of course you guys can't cook, sheesh, what a mess."

Skipper opened a window and took a seat beside Private. "Apparently somebody." He jerked his thumb towards Private. "Got hungry and tried to make himself breakfast."

Marlene snorted. "Thank god I'm here, right? What would you like Private? Pancakes?"

"Pancakes." Private echoed happily.

"You can cook?" Skipper asked as he resumed cleaning up the mess.

"Of course I can, I'm a girl aren't I? Don't your stupid sexist stereotypes say all girls can cook?" She slammed the frying pan down on the stove and shot a glare to Skipper.

Skipper gulped at her display of anger. "Look, I'm sorry, all right-"

Marlene shot him another dirty look as she interrupted him. "Chocolate chip or blueberry Private?"

"Blueberry please." Private's head began to nod and Skipper poked him.

"You just got up, how can you be tired already?"

"Sorry Skippah, I couldn't sleep well last night...I didn't have my stuffed Lunacorn."

"You can't sleep unless you have some stupid stuffed toy?" Skipper asked with a laugh.

Marlene put a plate of pancakes in front of each of them. "He's just a child Skipper." She knelt down to Private. "How about we see if we can get you a new one when we go out shopping today?"

"Okay." Private said happily though a mouthful of pancakes.

The rest of the morning passed lazily. Private watched a Lunacorn marathon while Skipper tried his best to keep his mind off Marlene. Eventually, he gave up and spent the rest of the morning lying in bed reading the paper. By the time lunch was over, there was still no sign of Rico and Skipper was beginning to get worried. Marlene, Private and Skipper piled into the SUV and armed with the credit card Kowalski had given them headed to the nearest supermarket. Needless to say, Skipper's driving skills were nowhere close to safe and when they pulled into the parking lot both Private and Marlene let out a sigh of relief. "Look at all these people, they could be spies!" Skipper shouted stubbornly and locked the car doors.

"Skippah." Private giggled. "Come on, stop being so paranoid." He unlocked the car door and tried to pry the older out of the car.

"Well maybe being paranoid keeps us safe." Skipper argued.

"You're not afraid are you?" Marlene taunted, placing a hand on her hip.

"Of course not." Skipper scoffed and exited the car.

They hadn't been in the store 5 minutes when Private spotted a Lunacorn display. "Look!" He cried happily, holding up an exact replica of his stuffed Lunacorn that was back in HQ. "Season three!" He picked up a DVD this time. "Please Skippah?

Skipper grumbled a bit before he plunked both items in the cart, causing Private to beam. "I still can't so no to your stupid puppy dog eyes." Skipper muttered with a smile. "You're lucky you still have your British charm, or you wouldn't be getting a thing."

Private grinned up at him.

"Hey Private, look what I found." Marlene appeared behind them with Lunacorn bedding set.

"Really?" Skipper asked her. "You're going to encourage him?"

Marlene smiled. "Everybody deserves to be spoiled a bit."

Skipper rolled his eyes and they picked out the paint and paid for their purchases.

Private hugged his new stuffed Lunacorn tightly as they drove back home, humming a happy tune.

Skipper tried to keep his eyes on the road but found himself sneaking looks at Marlene. "Stop it!" He chided himself aloud.

Marlene looked confused. "Stop what?"

Skipper laughed awkwardly. "Oh nothing, it's just that this traffic is driving me crazy." _Stop it! Stop it right now! You cant like her, and you don't! You don't like her! You don't like her!_ He was so distracted he almost ran a red light.

"Skipper, are you all right? Maybe I should drive the rest of the way home." Marlene suggested nervously.

"Nah, its okay, sorry about that, I was just distracted, it wont happen again"

They made it home safely, and once they carried in the packages Skipper went searching for Rico. He saw no trace of him and went down to the basement. "Kowalski?"

"Yes Skipper?"

"Have you seen Rico today? Private said he left this morning and I don't think he's been back since."

"I haven't seen him, sorry."

"Ok thanks." Skipper walked closer. "So how's it going?"

"Skipper, I told you, the invention is going to take awhile."

"Right...sorry." Skipper headed back upstairs and was greeted by an overeager Private.

"Can we paint my room today, can we? Huh?"

"Private, not right now...I'm a bit worried about Rico." He sank down into a chair at the table.

"Rico? What happened to Rico?" Marlene questioned.

"Private, why don't you go watch your new DVD." Skipper suggested. Private happily went into the other room. "Well...I'm not really sure if anything happened to him, but I am a bit worried. Private said he left early this morning and I don't think he's been back since. What if something happened to him? What if-"

"Skipper." Marlene put a hand on his forearm. "Its Rico, he can take care of himself, I'm sure wherever he is he's just fine. Panicking won't help any; I'm sure any second now he will walk through the door and you'll feel silly for worrying yourself sick."

Skipper let out a shaky breath. "Yeah, you're probably right. I mean, could you imagine if someone tried to mess with Rico?"

Marlene smiled. "I'll fix dinner; you go and watch TV with Private."

"The Lunacorns? No thanks, I'd rather peck out my own eyeballs."

Marlene giggled as she fluttered around the kitchen. "I guess you still don't like that show."

Skipper snorted. "You got that right sister, I can't stand that show, it's sickening."

"Of course." Marlene rolled her eyes. "Gosh forbid you should actually show some emotions."

"I'm a guy, mushy stuff isn't my thing." He said it as if it were a plausible excuse.

Marlene rounded on him, pushing a finger against his chest. "Listen mister, that sexist stuff isn't going to fly with me, okay?" Her eyes flashed angrily, causing Skipper to involuntarily cringe, yet, he was still intrigued. _Gosh, she's pretty when she's angry._ "I tried to ignore your stupid attitude as much at the zoo as I could, but I'm not going to stand here and just let you put me down because of your stupid sexist attitude! I don't have to stay here, in fact, I'd love to leave and never see you again._ Lies, its all lies._ "But guess what? I want to get back to the zoo just as much as you want to, and if I leave, I'll never get back. So you can just take your attitude and shove it! You're stubborn and pig headed and sometimes I wonder why I even try to be nice to you!" She turned her back to him and began chopping vegetables angrily.

Skipper, as quietly as he could, stood up and retreated to the front steps outside. The air had a chill to it, a crispness that reminded you that winter was coming quickly. Skipper hadn't minded the winter as a penguin, penguins were built for cold, harsh conditions, but the fragile human's body he now occupied worried him, it didn't seem well equipped to deal with the cold, the snow, the wind. He involuntarily shivered at the thought of coldness creeping down his back, cursing this shell of a body he must now bear. "I don't want to be human; I don't want any of this!" He shouted to the sky, clenching his fists to keep the tears at bay. _Guys don't cry, I'm strong; I'm no crybaby!_ He wasn't sure how long he sat there, by the time Private called him for supper he had lost all feelings in his fingers. Supper was a quiet affair. Skipper could feel the tension in the air, but he paid it no mind, he was lost in his thoughts. _I don't belong here! None of us do! _Even though he had been here a day, he still wasn't sure of his body. It felt unfamiliar, wrong. He looked down at the plate of human food before him. "Food. Human food. He felt disdain that he was just sitting there, like it was normal, when it was just a simple gesture on autopilot. He glanced around at the other people at the table. _These aren't my teammates, my friends, they're strangers._ That was the truth, he did view the humans sitting with him as strangers, yet he knew somewhere deep inside lay his fellow comrades. He wished he could rip apart this human facade and unveil their true selves underneath; he needed to see a glimpse of his soldiers, to remind him why he was trying so hard.

"Skippah?" Private asked with concern. _That voice...Private._ He felt warmth spread through him at the familiar voice. "Skippah?" Private asked again. "Are you all right?"

Skipper looked down and saw that he had been clenching the edge of the table with his fingers, causing them to turn white. He looked up and felt a small shock. He could have sworn they were back in HQ, as if everything was normal, but the sight shattered his hopes, Private with his very human face peering at him worriedly.

Skipper released the table and tried to smile. "I...I'm fine Private, just a bit..." He couldn't think of the word to describe how he was feeling and shoved another forkful of potatoes in his mouth. He stood up abruptly, his chair scraping across the floor with a shriek. He dumped his plate in the sink and sank to his bedroom floor.

The knock on his door came a few minutes later. "Skippah?" Private called, rapping his knuckles against the wooden door. "Skippah? Are you all right?

Skipper couldn't help but smile at the younger's attitude. Of course Private would be worrying about other people instead of himself. He opened the door a crack and Skipper could see a wedge of his blonde hair. "Skippah?"

"Its all right, you can come in."

The door opened wider and Private sat beside him. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Skipper took a deep breath. "Nah, I'm okay."

Private sat beside him a little while longer in quiet before he finally spoke. "This may be a bad time to bring it up, but K'walksi says I have to go to school...but I don't want to Skippah!"

Skipper scrambled up angrily. _Challenging my authority! How dare he?_ He stormed downstairs and then down to the basement. "I make the decisions around here!" He roared. "I'm still the commanding officer, your all still under my command! Don't you dare to try and make decisions for me Kowalski!"

"Sir." Kowalski butted in. "I'm merely making the necessary arrangements so we fit in with the humans. I knew you were probably upset so I-"

"Thought you'd have your own try at being a leader? Everything I thought I knew so well was ripped from me, but nobody will ever take my team from me. Ever! No matter what happens I'll always be commander of this unit"

"Are we still a unit?" Kowalski asked quietly. "I mean, with all this-"

"Yes! I thought our bond would be strong enough to survive this, I mean, shouldn't it?"

"Yes sir."  
"We could battle bazillion enemies together but the moment something like this happens we fall apart? No! I won't let this team fall apart!"

"I understand Skipper, I know this is a hard adjustment and I'm sorry if you took offence, I'd never challenge your authority, I respect you too much to ever do that." Skipper studied him awhile, feeling stupid for starting the argument. "By the way skipper...bazillions not a number." Kowalski said with a small smile.

Skipper rolled his eyes but smiled also. "Anyway, Private doesn't want to go to school."

"I know Skipper, but he legally has to be in school or we could be in a lot of trouble. He has to go to school just like we have to go to work."  
"Work? Like...jobs work?"

"Yes, a job Skipper. We need money, we need it to survive, it's a human's necessity. It's not like the zoo where we had everything we needed handed to us, we had it so easy there. Now we have to buy our own food, and pay bills. Remember that credit card I gave you? We have to have money to pay the bill when it comes in the mail, its all about money here, and the more of it you have the easier it is."

"But he doesn't want to go to school."

Kowalski sighed. "I know, and I'm sorry, I highly doubt you'll enjoy your job either." Skipper raised an eyebrow, urging him to go on. "Okay...you work as a police dispatcher, you know, taking calls, sending out patrol cars and such-"

"A desk monkey job?!" Skipper asked, completely outraged. "I will not be one of those pinhead pencil pushers!"

"I knew you wouldn't like it Skipper, and I'm sorry I couldn't find anything else-"

Skipper glared at him and threw his hands in the air. "A desk monkey? Me? How did it come to this? No! I won't do it!"

"Skipper, please, I know your not happy with this, but just give it a try. To be quite frank, we need the money. Just give it a chance please; maybe it won't be as bad as you think."

"I suppose you're perfectly happy with your job." Skipper sneered.

"Skipper, please, just calm down a moment-" Skipper didn't hear any more as he stormed upstairs.

"Skippah." Private whimpered. "I don't want to go, please don't make me."

Skipper was in no mood for Private's whining and stomped by, slamming his bedroom door, causing the whole house to shake.

"Oh honey." Marlene cooed.

"Skippah hates me! He must, he just ignored me!"

"Skippers just in a bad mood honey, he doesn't hate you."

Private sniffled. "He probably wishes I wasn't a kid, that I wasn't so much responsibility. I know I'm annoying at times, but it try really hard not to be."

"Shh Private, don't say that. Come on, I think its time for you to go to bed."

Private didn't respond but slowly walked up the stairs, feeling bitter from being ignored by his leader. He closed his bedroom door and without changing into his pyjamas climbed into bed, clutching Princess Self Respecta to his chest as he tried to hold back the tears.

Skipper crept downstairs as the house fell silent. He took a seat on the couch in the living room, his foot bouncing nervously; he just couldn't stop worrying about Rico. He looked at the clock and turned the TV on, trying to distract himself. The news came on and Skipper hurriedly changed the channel. The minutes ticked by and his stomach churned anxiously. He heard the stairs creak and whipped around. Private poked his head around the corner but quickly retreated when he spotted Skipper.

"What do you want?" Skipper snapped, a little harsher than he meant to.

"Sorry Skippah, I just came down to get a glass of water and I saw the light on...shouldn't you be in bed?"

Skipper shrugged his shoulders carelessly.

"Okay Skippah, I can't take a hint, I'll just leave you alone."

"Listen, I'm sorry Private. I've just had a bad day."  
Private hesitantly approached him. "You're worried about Rico, aren't you?"

"Of course I am, I have no idea where he is! I haven't seen him all day! He could be lying dead on a street somewhere and I'd never know!"

Private instinctively reached over and hugged him.

Skipper scooted away quickly. "What are you doing?"

"I was giving you a hug Skippah...you look like you needed one."

I'm okay Private, but thanks anyway. You should get back to bed."

"You need sleep too." Private reminded him.

"I know." Skipper said, giving a long hopeful stare at the door. "I think I'll wait up for Rico, just to make sure he's-"

The front door creaked open and Rico shut it quietly behind him. "Rico!" Skipper cried in relief. Neither of them were the hugging type, that was more Private's thing, but he had the sudden urge to do just that, hug him tightly in relief that he had made it home safely. "Rico, where were you?" Skipper's voice hardened a bit and Private scampered off to bed.

"Out for walk." Rico tried to push past Skipper.

"Out for a walk?" Skipper echoed in disbelief. "Rico, I've been worrying about you all day soldier! I thought you were lost, or hurt, but no, you had only gone for a walk! You've been gone all day Rico, I was worried sick, I mean, you could have left a note or something...I had no idea...I thought you might have been dead."

Rico looked unconcerned as he slipped past Skipper and up the stairs. "Rico." Skipper snapped. "What's gotten into you?"

Rico snorted and slammed the bedroom door in Skipper's face. He tried to control his anger with calming breaths. "Listen Rico, I'm sorry I got angry at you, I was just worried. I just want to talk, okay? Please let me in so I don't wake up everybody else up."

The door opened and Skipper shoved his way inside. "I'm sorry Rico, its just...you have no idea how worried I was." Rico looked bored and rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Listen soldier, I don't like you attitude! You never acted like this before, explain these actions!"

"I don't have ou listen to ou." Rico said coldly.

Skipper stared at him. "That's insubordination soldier!"

"No it not, we no team no more." Rico said flatly.

Skipper felt sadness settle over him, a horrible emption he just couldn't shake away. "Is that what you think?" He asked, his voice cracking.

Rico averted his eyes and shook his head yes.

Skipper left the room wordlessly. _If I'm not a skipper anymore, then what am I?_ The answer came to him as he flung himself on his bed with a strangled sob. _Nothing. _


	4. Chapter 4

That night was an uncomfortable sleep, Skipper's mind never shutting off or very long. He would doze for a few hours but later wake with a start. Finally, the sun crept into his room, an excellent excuse to get up. He was happy for the morning, to try to find something to distract himself. He rushed downstairs and made himself a cup of coffee, and then another and another. He was on his third cup by the time anybody in the house began to stir. Rico left through the backdoor, Skipper had heard the door slam. He put his head on the table, breathing deeply. He was prepared for any situation, any situation except this one, the most hurtful one of all.

Private soon pranced down the stairs, oblivious to the bad vibe in the air. "I hope Marlene's up soon, I'm starving!" He took a seat beside Skipper. "Can you help me paint my room today please Skippah? I don't like sleeping in it the way it is, its too plain and boring."

"We'll see Private." Skipper sighed.

"I'm going to wake up Marlene; I'm just so hungry-"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Skipper warned. "She might get cranky."

"Why?"

"Because if girls don't get enough sleep, they get really cranky, believe you me, it's not pretty."

Private shrugged his shoulders and ran up the stairs anyway. A few minutes he reappeared with Marlene by his side.

She gave a tug on the belt of her robe and shot a glare at Skipper. "Why did you tell him not to wake me up? That's absolutely ridiculous Skipper, the child's hungry, I don't mind getting up to make him something to eat, some of us aren't heartless."  
"You don't have to always find something to pick with me, this situation isn't my fault."

"You're sure not making it any better either."

"Blame Kowalski! It's his stupid invention!"

"Kowalski's not the one being a jerk." Marlene muttered and handed Private his breakfast.

Skipper lefty the table abruptly, muttering under his breath all the way to the bathroom. He showered and emerged back downstairs soon after.

"So Skippah...can we start?" Private asked eagerly.

"You need school stuff." Skipper bluffed.

Private's composure saddened. "But I really wanted you to help me paint my room Skippah."

Marlene came down the stairs, cleaned and dressed. "I'll get his school supplies." She offered. "I think you should spend some time with Private anyway, would it be too much work for you to actually spend time with the child Skipper? He is just a child; he needs attention and affection, although I'm sure-"

"Stop it!" Private cried and ran up the two flights of stairs to his bedroom.

Skipper let out a sigh. He didn't need to see Marlene to know that her body language was practically screaming for him to go and comfort Private. "You're more motherly than me-"

"Nope." Marlene grabbed the car keys and let the door slam behind her.

Skipper trudged upstairs and knocked on Private's door gently. When he received no answer, he opened the door himself and looked in. Private was sitting on the edge of his bed and looking out the window dejectedly.

"...Are you...alright?" Skipper asked awkwardly.

"Why do you and Marlene always argue?" He asked sadly. "You guys never argued this much back at the zoo."

"Well...I guess I just never spent so much time around her before...I'm sorry if our arguing bothered you."

Private looked up. "I just wish you both would get along- Skippah, you're blushing."

Skipper clawed at his face aggressively, as if he could scratch the redness right off. _Stop it! You don't like her! Don't think about her, ah, your thinking about her again, nice going! Control your stupid emotions, shove them deep down inside, pretend they don't exist!_

Luckily, Private didn't stay on that subject for long and Skipper's cheeks faded back to their normal color. He picked up the paint cans and brushes and placed them in the centre of the room. Private looked at him questionably. "Well you wanted to paint your room didn't you?" Skipper grinned.

"No Skippah, it's okay, I don't want to make you if you don't want to-"

"I want to." Skipper temptingly wiggled a paintbrush in front of his face. _I just can't stand seeing the boy down in the dumps._

Private beamed up at him and stood up. Skipper pushed the furniture to the centre of the room and covered it with a tarp. Private pried open a can of paint and happily dipped his brush in. He hummed happily as the walls became colourful. It took only a few hours and soon both stood back to admire their work.

"Happy?" Skipper asked with a smile.

"Very Skippah, but we're not finished yet, we still have to paint on the Lunacorns."

"The Lunacorns?" Skipper rolled his eyes, "Aren't you a bit old for them? They're kind of lame." Private frowned and Skipper backtracked quickly. "I mean, I just don't want you to change your mind and say you don't like them anymore..."

"Nice save." Private said sarcastically. "Don't worry, I can do it myself. I just thought it would be nice to do something together, it feels like the team's drifting apart..."

"You really know how to play my heartstrings, but your stupid moon horses-" Skipper turned around and Private planted a handprint of wet paint on his face. "What the?" Skipper sputtered as Private giggled and scampered to the other side of the room.

"Oh no you don't, you asked for it!" Skipper dipped both hands in a paint can and advanced towards the child. Private giggled and tried to dodge out of the way but tripped. Skipper victoriously planted two handprints on his face. "Revenge is sweet." Skipper smirked. Private smiled and flicked the leftover paint in his brush into the older's hair. "Well, if you're going to be nasty about it." Skipper took the top of the paint can and rubbed in on Private's shirt. Private promptly knocked over one of the full paint cans, causing it to spill all over the floor and Skipper's clothes. Skipper grinned drew a rainbow on the back of Private's head. "There, it matches you perfectly." Private dumped a paint can over his head this time, making it rain down over his hair to the floor. Skipper tackled him to the floor with a stupid grin and tickled him, his fingers full of paint.

"Okay Skippah, I give up!" Private laughed, rolling away and plopping his face against the wet wall, leaving his tiny face imprint. "Oof." Private recovered and shoved Skippers face against the wall. "Yes revenge is sweet." He said happily, as Skipper glared at him. He couldn't stay angry for long though, just looking at their face imprints made him cheer up. They both let out a laugh and sat on the floor, proud of their artwork. They just sat there for a little while, enjoying the quiet. Finally, Private's worry took over. "Skippah, I don't want to go to school tomorrow! I don't want to leave you Skippah! What if you guys go back to the zoo and leave me here alone!"

Skipper sighed. "Yeah, because you know I'd leave you by yourself here." He dropped the sarcastic tone and continued. "I wouldn't ever leave you on your own Private, you're too young, even I'm not that cold hearted. I do care about my recruits, even if I don't show it.

Private hugged him and Marlene poked her head in. Skipper felt his heartbeat speed up at her appearance and hoped he wouldn't do something stupid. _Since when do I want to impress Marlene?_ He felt a feeling of dread at his strong emotions. _I'm a trained soldier; I can't let emotions affect me like this! _"What happened?" Marlene asked as she saw the mess.

Private grinned. "Skippah helped me paint my room." Marlene surveyed the room with a small smile.

_I just wish you both would get along._ "Marlene...can I talk to you?" Skipper asked, not believing what he was saying. His tummy fluttered as they walked out into the hallway. "Listen, I'm sorry about...how we've been. Can we...start over maybe? Our arguing bothers Private and frankly, me too. I'm going to try, okay? I'd appreciate it if you did the same."

"Okay." Marlene said with a small smile. "If you can try, I guess I can too." Her smile caused a smile of his own to tug at his lips.

"Thanks."

"I'm proud of you for spending time with him Skipper, he looks up to you. I know you're not the fatherly type, but he needs one and I'm sure he appreciates that you're trying." She dropped her bags outside Private's door. "I guess you guys didn't have lunch yet, did you?"

"Ah...no."

"It's okay, I'll make some." Marlene disappeared downstairs. Skipper rested his forehead against the wall. _Just being around her is exhausting, and it's just going to get harder. I just don't know what I'm going to do, or how I fell for someone so fast. _


	5. Chapter 5

The rest of the day Skipper was completely civil with Marlene, cool and distant, but civil nonetheless. Skipper found himself wracking his brain as to why he was acting this way. Denial didn't solve it, he couldn't deny it anymore, every time he was around her he felt a little glimmer of content, of happiness. There was no way around it, he was falling hard and fast and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Skipper became more and more depressed the more he thought about their predicament. Here he was the leader, the commanding officer, the one who was supposed to be in charge and it felt like everything was spinning out of control. He worked as a stupid desk monkey, he was becoming more and more aware of his feelings for Marlene and he didn't know if they would ever get back to the zoo. This kind of desperation, of loss, of hopelessness he had never experienced before, and it was hard.

It was after supper when Skipper released they had another problem. Private's bedroom was still full of paint fumes, so much so that he couldn't stay in the room for more than a couple of hours without getting a headache. _There's no way he can sleep in that room tonight._ He gave him an Advil for his headache and ordered him to stay out of the room. He watched Private as he played with his Lunacorn on the living room floor. The child's yawns were getting more and more frequent. Skipper shut off the TV and picked up Private, stuffed animal and all. "Come on, you can sleep in my bed tonight."

"But where will you sleep Skippah?" Private asked tiredly. "I don't want to kick you out of your own bed."

Skipper couldn't help but smile at the youngsters concern. "It's okay Private; I'll sleep on the couch." He ruffled his curls affectionately. "Night kid."

"G'night Skippah. I know your a big softie underneath all that tough exterior, but don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

Skipper didn't know how to respond and turned off the light, closing the door silently behind him. He settled on the couch, squirming to find a comfortable position.

"That doesn't look very comfortable." Skipper nearly jumped a foot in the air at the voice. Marlene appeared beside him. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." She sat on the edge of the couch, her legs brushing up against Skipper's feet. A rush went up his spine at the contact. _This is ridiculous!_ "What are you doing down here?

"Private's sleeping in my bed; his room is still full of paint fumes."

Marlene smiled. "That's sweet. You know what? You have a real soft spot for him, don't you? You try to be all tough and stern on the outside but on the inside you do care a lot, you just won't show it."

Skipper snorted. "Seriously? You must have been talking to Private; did he tell you to say that? He must have, he said basically the same thing about five minutes ago."

Marlene laughed, a beautiful sound to Skipper's ears. "Maybe it's because it's true." She sat there, just watching him for a few minutes until she stood up. "Well goodnight Skipper, I hope you sleep okay" And with that she was gone. However, Skipper couldn't get to sleep. He lay awake, replaying the conversation with Marlene, the way her hair fell in her face in a way that made is heart race, the smile that seemed to always play at the corner of her lips, her hazel eyes that he couldn't see in the dark but he could feel watching him, giving him a little shiver. He tossed and turned as the thoughts repeated in his mind, seeming to hold him prisoner from a blissful sleep.

He wouldn't have gotten up at all the next morning if it weren't for Kowalski. The taller shook him awake impatiently, a little violently for Skipper's liking, but he supposed it was payback for the bad mornings back at the zoo. Marlene was just coming down the stairs as he headed up. "Morning." She called. Skipper wanted to scowl, but instead plastered a smile on his face and returned the pleasantry.

By the time he re-emerged downstairs both Kowalski and Private were sitting at the table eating breakfast. He took a seat and scowled. Marlene calmly set a cup of coffee down in front of him. "Oh thanks..." He looked up and trailed off, literally speechless. Marlene was just inches from him and he wasn't prepared for it.

"No problem." She replied with a smile.

A few minutes later Kowalski tossed him a set of car keys as the tallest stood up. "Drop off Marlene and Private on your way, just use the GPS in the car."

"I don't want to."

"I don't want to go either Skippah, we can both stay home together." Private piped up hopefully.

"Sorry Private." Skipper glared at the scientists back as he disappeared out the back door. "He doesn't care, he gets to work at some fancy university, he must be over the moon. If he cared he'd get us jobs we'd like too."

"Is there a human job you'd enjoy?" Marlene questioned as she did the dishes.

"No." Skipper responded. "But anything would be better than a desk monkey!" Skipper slammed his fist down on the table in anger.

"Skipper, please calm down." Marlene pleaded, nodding her head towards Private. The child was looking at him with wide, scared eyes.

"Sorry." Skipper looked down at the table as Private went upstairs to get his backpack.

"I know your upset, I don't blame you, but try to focus on the positive, maybe it won't be so bad." Marlene offered,

"I'll be stuck behind a desk all day! A pinhead pencil pusher!" Skipper took a deep breath, trying to postpone his inevitable breakdown.

They walked out to the car and drove to Privates school in silence. They parked outside the doors and Skipper watched as Private just sat in the backseat, making no attempt to get out of the car, "Come on Private, focus on the positive, maybe it won't be so bad." Skipper said, quoting what Marlene had said a little while earlier. "I promise I'll pick you up after school, okay? You won't be alone, we won't leave you, I promise."

Private met his gaze in the mirror. "But I'm scared."

"I know Private, I'm scared too, but you can't let people know that. Take that fear and shove it down deep inside somewhere no one can see. If I can make it through the day, I know you can too."

Private gave him a small smile and put on a brave face. "Bye Skippah, bye Marlene." He jumped out of the car and Skipper kept a watchful eye on him until he was out of view. They pulled up in front of an office building and Marlene got out, "I'll see you later, I know you can do it, just don't freak out or anything." She smiled and that image remained in his mind all day.

Then Skipper was alone. He pulled into the parking garage and parked in the nearest free space. Then, with Marlene's encouraging words echoing in his head, he took a deep breath and entered the building.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** I kind of feel like a jerk for not updating in so long, but once again *impatient sigh* school got in the way, so...sorry...again.

* * *

Private watched the car drive away with an overwhelming sense of fear. With that vehicle left the only people he knew in this crazy human world, the only people he cared about. _I'd rather be back at HQ with Skipper, Rico and Kowalski, heck, I even wouldn't mind Skipper's training and harsh words...I just want to go home._ He felt tears prick at the back of his eyes and looked up, startled, as he heard a voice.

"Hi! Oh wait...are you okay?"

Private slowly turned around, hastily rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand and was met with a boy about his age. He was a little taller, but not by much and had shaggy brown hair that fell in his face. "Hi!" Private said as brightly as he could.

"You were all alone so I came over here to say hi, I'm new here." The boy explained.

"I'm new here too."

"Cool, my names Josh."

"Private."

Josh took a seat beside him. "I'm real scared, what about you? I was always home schooled before we moved here.'

"I'm scared too." Private admitted with a shy smile.

"I like your accent." Josh said in awe. "It makes you sound really different, I wish I had an accent, but I just talk normal."

Private laughed and the bell rang. A crowd of students headed for the doors while Private and Josh looked around in bewilderment. "Are we supposed to follow them?" Private asked.

Josh shrugged his shoulders. "I guess we could." They followed the throng of students through the double doors and found themselves standing in a brightly lit hallway.

A teacher spotted them and hurried over. "You should be in class." She scolded.

"Um." Private sputtered.

"We're new here, I'm Josh and this is Private." Josh supplied.

"Oh, then follow me."

They were led down the hallway and down a flight of stairs. "There you go boys; you're in Mr. Brown's class."

The door opened and twenty-two pairs of curious eyes peered back at them "Come on in." Mr. Brown encouraged.

The boys found seats together in the back and sat down. The teacher resumed class, explaining the map that was on the board. Private immediately found it boring. He twirled his pencil aimlessly and wondered what the rest of the team was doing. Another bell rang and the other children sprang up. Josh poked him in the ribs, causing him to leave his daydream and follow the group outside. They walked over to a swing set and sat down.

"So..." Josh stated, trying to break the awkward silence.

"So..." Private repeated, being wary of giving away any classified information. _Maybe Skipper__ is__ rubbing off on me more than I thought...ohgosh...I'm turning into Skipper!_ He giggled and Josh gave him a strange look. "Sorry, I was just thinking about my...family."

"And you were laughing?" Josh asked in confusion.

"We aren't exactly normal." Private supplied.

Josh laughed. "Neither is my family. My aunt, who I've been living with ever since my mom died just got married a few days ago, I never really had any friends. I had my aunt before but now she spends a lot of her time Francis."

Private knew he shouldn't say anything, if Skipper knew he was here talking to a stranger (who could be a potential enemy!) he would be absolutely furious. Yet, he trusted his new friend. _Maybe I can actually have a friend now, well, besides the team, he seems trustworthy enough, he can't possibly be an enemy, can he? Skipper's not always right, not everyone is a spy!_ He took a deep breath and started. "I have a family... I guess you could call us a family. Skippah is stern and tough on the outside but deep on the inside he's just a big softie, he just doesn't want anyone to know. K'walski is smart; he's always in his lab doing science stuff. Rico isn't home much, I'm kind of worried about him, but Marlene's my favourite. She's kind of motherly and super nice, even if she and Skippah fight all the time. If I had a mom I'd pick her."

"You don't know your mom either?"

"Nah, I don't know my dad either. Sometimes I wish I knew my real parents, when I get upset or things get tough."

The bell rang and they filled back inside, Private realizing his disdain for this walled prison. _It's so boring, who cares about this stuff anyway? How can Kowalski stand this? He's completely mental! I don't want to be here, Skippah was wrong, I don't like it at all, it won't turn out okay! _

"Art class!" the teacher announced with enthusiasm, passing out paper and pencils. "Today's free draw, so you can do whatever you want."

Private accepted the paper with a sigh. He absentmindedly picked up his pencil and soon an amazing drawing of Queen Please and Thank you appeared. It was then Private found his happy spot, with a pencil and a piece of paper. He felt his mood improve as his drawing took shape. He made another and another until he had a pile of his beloved Lunacorns.

"My Private...those are nice...Lunacorns." Mr. Brown commented as he strolled by, impressed by his new pupil's talent. "You have amazing talent...are you sure you wouldn't like to draw something else?" Of course, the teachers praise brought attention to Private, who certainly didn't want it. The other students began to point and laugh at him. "The Lunacorn's are for babies!" One cried.

"Yeah, for stupid sissy babies!" Another boy added.

"Private likes the Lunacorns!" The whole class erupted in hurtful laughter.

"All right class, that's enough." Mr. Brown ordered. "We all like different things and that's okay."

Yet the laughter still echoed in Private's ears for hours after it had faded, the mocking, the finger pointing, it hurt. He bowed his head in shame but continued shading in Princess Self Respecta's mane with a purple pencil, trying to block out the taunts desperately.

So it began, the best time of the day, yet the worse. Private was happy to be able to draw what he wanted, it was something he quite enjoyed actually, but from that moment on he was everybody's victim, the punch lines of all jokes, the receiver of all taunts, the one everybody laughed at.

He breathed a sigh of relief at the lunch bell, not knowing the torture would follow him wherever he went. Private and Josh sat at a table by themselves, as far away from everybody else as they could. Private was glad for his new friend, even through all the teasing Josh hadn't left him alone, he'd even tried to stand up or Private a time or two, without his friend school would be unbearable.

Private took a bite of the casserole and swallowed it quickly, flashing back to eating Skipper's monkfish surprise in HQ. "This is horrible." Josh said with disdain.

"It tastes worse than Skipper's monk fish surprise." Private agreed.

A loud persistent ringing went off then. Private covered his eyes from the noise but it didn't help. The other children sprang up frantically, spilling their forgotten food and tipping their chairs over in their haste. Private smelled the acrid smell of burning; something was very familiar to thanks to Kowalski and his inventions. He sprang up and out of the building, Josh hot on his heels. They stood shivering on the sidewalk, watching the flames that rose from the building, filling the sky with its sense of destruction.


	7. Chapter 7

Marlene took it all in stride, the imposing building, the uncomfortable looks guys were giving her and her snooty boss. She snorted in disgust as she took the seat at her desk. She seemed to be developing a sixth sense as to which people to steer clear of, and her new boss was setting off that internal alarm. She set her jaw as she logged into her new account and thought back to their first encounter, which was mere minutes before. He had walked into the building just ahead of her, and instead of holding it for her like a gentleman, or any human with a sense of decency would, let it slam in her face. _What a way to start off the day! It's going to be horrible, I just wish I were back at the zoo!_

"Miss?" Mr. Campbell asked impatiently, not even concerned in learning her name. "My ten o'clock client's files."

Marlene resisted the urge to roll her eyes and presented the files to him with a forced smile. Not even a thank you, he just slammed the door silently. _Stupid, stubborn and pig headed, just like Skipper!_ She realized with horror what she had just thought. _Whoa there girl, we are not going there. If I just ignore it it'll go away, wont it?_ She busied herself at the computer but her thoughts kept bombarding her. _At least Skipper isn't that much of a jerk. He may be all military like and stern but at least he had some manners._ A picture of Skipper flashed before her and smiled. She remembered how intense his blue eyes had looked when she had woken and found him kneeling over her, how nice the feeling of his hands holding hers was and blushed. The phone rang and she was thankful for the distraction. the next few hours passed quickly, clients coming and going and mountains of paperwork to file.

Soon, it was time for her lunch break. She clocked out and walked down to the small cafe across the street. She chose a seat by the window and nibbled on her sandwich. _Love at first sight,...I never thought it existed...but maybe..._ The pull toward Skipper was so strong that she knew she must have had hidden feelings for him before that even she didn't know herself. She smiled as she pictured the familiar penguin. His stern eyes, which could soften at the rarest moments, his shiny black and white feathers, his oddly cute flat head-

"May I sit here?"

Marlene opened her eyes with a start and at first glance thought it was Skipper standing before her. At second glance she noticed they looked nothing alike and mentally chided herself for being so hopeful. She realised she still hadn't answered him and knew she was blushing from embarrassment. "Sure."

He took the seat opposite her and peered down at the newspaper he was holding intently. Marlene studied him while he was distracted. A set of bright, intelligent green eyes, high cheekbones, a long slender nose and jet black hair that was styled carefully. He noticed her watching him and smiled. Marlene looked down at her sandwich as he stuck out his hand. "Hi, I'm Eric."

"Marlene." She replied, tentatively shaking his hand.

"Nice to meet you. You work for Mr. Campbell, don't you? I feel bad, I heard he's not too nice of a person.

Marlene smirked. "Well I found that out already, he seems to think he's above everyone else."

"Well, literally he is. His office is on the top floor remember."

Marlene let out a little giggle and smiled at him. They continued to chat for the rest of the lunch break, about unimportant, impersonal things, like the weather and their jobs.

Marlene spotted the clock on the wall and hurriedly stood up. "Oh gosh, I better get back, I don't want to get on his bad side."

Eric also stood. 'I'll walk you." He offered. They hurried back, Marlene tapping her foot impatiently in the elevator.

Eric cleared his throat nervously. "I'm just a floor below you, if you need anything or just want to talk, feel free to stop by."

"Thanks." Marlene hurried off.

"Hey! Will you be at the cafe tomorrow?"

Marlene barely had the time to shake her head yes before the door slammed behind her.

It wasn't until later that she thought about what Eric had said. _He seemed...interested...could he really be interested in me?_ She felt a small pride that someone could find her interesting. Skippers face once again popped into her head. _No! Stop it! I have to forget about Skipper, he's making me feel emotions I don't want to feel, they're so strong its scary. Maybe getting a boyfriend is just what I need to get my mind off him. I need an easy, carefree relationship. Falling in love is too complicated, the risk of heartache is just too high...I just cant._ It was then it slammed into her, what she had been hinting at all along. _I'm falling in love with Skipper._


End file.
